World Environment Day held since 1972 in the month of June stimulates awareness of the environment and enhances political action. After a period of forty years the international scientific community is calling for a deeper involvement of the social sciences and considering human-environment interaction not in term of trade-offs to protect nature but how best to serve society for the longer term
The new Companies Act 2013 recognises that companies emerge from the rich diversity and economic culture within India. CSR acknowledges the need for companies to contribute back to the societies they come from. One of the best ways to contribute is to strengthen this rich economic culture that is the culture of self-employment. Unlike many developed and developing countries, over
At Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, it is not just about corporate but also personal social responsibility, where employees are encouraged to contribute socially, says Pradeep Singhal, executive director of the company. In an interview with Jasleen Kaur, Singhal talks about the importance of bringing flexibility in the CSR rules to foster innovation. Edited ex
The first reactions to the denial of anticipatory bail of the Facebook user from Goa, Devu Chodankar, would obviously be full of condolences to the death of freedom of expression in India. Come on! Impending arrest for an innocent Facebook post? Really? A harmless, innocent post on a one of the many group pages on a social networking couldn’t mean anything. Of course it is the dawn of the
Besides being the country’s largest power generation company, the government-owned NTPC is also known for its contribution to the social sector. It has been conferred various awards for its CSR initiatives. In an email interview, NTPC chairman and managing director, Arup Roy Choudhury, talks about doing business by adding value to the community through CSR. He also says that an accountabi
Despite being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India lags behind in terms of ease of doing business: in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings of 2014, India has been ranked 134th out of 184 countries. The rank last year, at 131, was only slightly better. Taking cognizance of this situation, CII and KPMG jointly prepared a report aimed to improving India’
A full-time philanthropist, Rohini Nilekani has over the last few years contributed to a wide range of sectors including education, environment and water. She sold a part of her stake in Infosys for `164 crore to fund individuals and institutions that work for similar causes. In a candid interview with Jasleen Kaur, Nilekani talks about her expectations from an
The foreign policy of a major power seeking to influence world events has to be based on a national consensus to have the assurances other countries would require for stable relations over the longer term. Narendra Modi now has the national vote, the stock market and foreign institutional investors have given their full confidence and have high expectations and the world is watching to see whet
For the party that believes information technology is a big enabler for empowerment, equity and efficiency, will the ascent of BJP into power mean the end of road for Aadhaar? While Nandan Nilekani, the former chairman of the unique identification authority of India (UIDAI), and the Manmohan Singh government had been projecting Aadhaar as the essential tool to drive several socia
On using taxation to reduce income inequality There is immense unrealised potential for revenue collection in India. Raising tax rates as Piketty suggests, especially raising the top marginal tax rate (from the current 30% to, say, even 35%), is a measure I would support (more on that below). More importantly, the tax base in India continues to be very narrow. A
There was a time when elections were a backbreaking, time-consuming process – and counting more so. Each ballot had to be counted, and often recounted. And between the two arduous chapters of what sugar-sweet analysts genially call celebration or festival of democracy came the even more arduous – and tense and risky – phase of keeping the sealed ballot boxes out of harm’
The fast changing nature of cyber crime is forcing the law enforcement agencies to make rapid adjustments to come to grips with the new menace. In an interaction with Ankita Lahiri, the super cop who has also served with the National Investigation Agency says that lack of forensic experts, tools and low level of awareness are just some of the issues that the department needs to
With UPA on backfoot, non-Congress secular parties will gain ground in the 2014 general elections, believes CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat. In an exclusive interview with Deepak Rastogi, he talks about the perils of caste-based politics, the absence of a Modi wave and how AAP will not be able to conjure magic outside Delhi. Edited excerpts: In the
About two weeks back, a respected and highly accomplished independent director of Infosys tweeted saying; – “At a recent Infy board meeting, I was most impressed by Rohan Murty`s brilliant tech-loaded presentation, which will enormously benefit Infy." She withdrew it in haste little while later, saying she was carried by the brilliance she saw in the presentation in wrongly twe
For long during the 34 years of the Left Front administration in West Bengal, the Congress had an ‘explanation’ for the Front’s sweep: scientific rigging. The accusation was hurled especially at the CPI(M), the leading partner of the Front in both the state and nationally. The opposition party in the state – subsequently the opposition parties, after Mamata Baner
The success of any policy or programme depends on how well we understand the human behaviour. Over time the evidence from psychology, sociology, neuroscience and other disciplines has found humans are not so rational. Such evidence needs to be taken into account by policy makers and implementers. A clear understanding of human behaviour – including appreciation of certain biases &
Why is the DeitY planning to roll out the next phase of e-governance programme—eKranti or NeGP 2.0—when milestones related to national e-governance plan (NeGP) are yet to be met? NeGP 2.0 is essentially an attempt to take e-governance to the next level in the country. E-governance has already acquired a lot of traction. But at the same time we acknowledge th
He who lives by the sword dies by the sword. But since it would be a bit too harsh a proverb to use for the occasion, let’s just say he who tweets to embarrass others often gets embarrassed on Twitter. Congress party general secretary Digvijay Singh is learning it. The “hard way” or not is for him to figure out. For the moment, let’s just say the disconcerting way.
You have had a long association with India and consider it your adopted home. In your latest book you have written about foreigners writing on India. How have you negotiated your location of being an outsider/insider? I take pleasure in being both an outsider and an insider. For most Indians, however long I stay in India, I will always be seen as a foreigner. And
From heading a bank to now being at the helm of affairs at IBA, what is the kind of transition you have had to make? The role of the chairman is that of ensuring the execution of the bank’s commitment. Now, as chief executive of the IBA, I need to ensure that the complete ecosystem is in place so that the banks can fulfil their commitments. [The ecosystem consists]
